


you know i'll always be around

by evanie



Category: The Blue Poptarts (Band), Waterparks (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Attempt at Humor, Fluff, Happy Ending, M/M, Prom, School Dances, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-23
Updated: 2018-07-23
Packaged: 2019-06-14 23:08:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15399591
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/evanie/pseuds/evanie
Summary: It’s a week before Prom and Awsten has no clue what he’s doing(revised version of a fic i posted on here a few months ago!)





	you know i'll always be around

Awsten had to take a second to wipe his hands on his jeans. If he didn’t immediately wick the sweat away, it would run down the poster and make all of the colors run together and today was too big of a deal to ruin. He flipped his long hair back, both to get it out of his face and also to get some energy out before class. He usually didn’t show up to school so early, but he wanted to hide the poster in the art room before Jawn got to school. He passed Anthony, the school’s head janitor and made his way to the fine arts wing, returning a wave when the other stopped mopping and waved at him. The guy was quiet, but had never been impolite to Awsten, and Awsten liked to think his mother raised him right so returning the wave was a given.

He knew Mr. Quinn would be in his office, as he’d bribed him a few weeks earlier with a twenty dollar bill and two packs of M&M’s to show up early and orchestrate his master plan (All he really did was ask the guy to show up a couple hours before class started, and in the end it wasn’t worth losing twenty dollars over). The greater majority of his friends were in on the plan, and had gotten increasingly excited as the days went on. They’d tried dropping Jawn hints, but he was oblivious to every clue given. Awsten knew it was hopeless for him to figure out, but his gorgeous smile and awesome personality made up for what he lacked in the mindfulness department.

Mr. Quinn muttered a hello when he walked in and was nursing a coffee, watching with observant eyes as he slipped the poster behind the supply cabinets. He tied up the bag of candy and stuffed it behind the cabinet as well. He heard a few crunches, but a couple of broken lollipops wouldn’t kill anyone. Mr. Quinn looked back at his computer screen and pretended to work, but truthfully Awsten knew he was probably making an art supplies wishlist the school would never allow him to buy (he was upset about the budget cuts made the earlier in the year, and _he_ was the one who put salt in Principal Saporta’s sugar cup. Students didn’t care enough to do shit like that.). 

“Don’t let anyone touch that candy, or I’ll bite off your pinky toes.” Awsten deadpans. Mr. Quinn gave him a thumbs up and said nothing more, turning back to his computer screen and sipping his coffee again. Awsten heaved his backpack back over his shoulders and left the classroom, going to the lunchroom before breakfast started. The hallways were always more freaky without kids in his opinion, so he runs as fast as someone carrying 30 pounds worth of books possibly can. He slips on mop water on the way down and silently apologizes to Anthony when he sees dirty footsteps trailing after him.

The cafeteria wasn’t totally empty when he got there, a few underclassmen sat at tables but he recognized who they were. He didn’t know them by name, but they were all a part of the school’s notorious Anime Club. He knew the only reason they were well known was due to an incident in his freshman year where 5 students were expelled for playing hentai over the loudspeaker. Nobody was amused, and the entire student body was traumatized for weeks following the occasion. The school had to pay the counselor extra after sitting with multiple students for hours after school, many of them explaining how the incident dug up repressed childhood memories. The school board was less than pleased to say the least. He shudders at the memory and makes sure to sit as far away from them as possible.

Waves of kids come in every few minutes until the lunchroom is bustling with student life, and Awsten was crushed by the hoarde of loud scene kids who usually hang out in his friend group. His immediate friend group consisted of six or so people he’d known through middle school, but more joined the figurative party after his band became a main staple at sweet sixteens and the local Hot Topic. He wouldn’t admit it, but being a local celebrity among his peers was weird as fuck. There was the fine line of celebrity and random guy he balanced on as many people in the music scene knew who he was, but very few others could tell you who he was other than another loud and annoying teenager. A few girls try to strike up a conversation with him, twirling their crunchy and teased hair around their finger with some kind of anticipation. He thinks it’s a little weird, and a little gross, but he thinks about it and accepts that he probably looks the same way around Jawn. Awsten smiles awkwardly and turns away when someone on the other side of the table yells-

“JAWN!”

Awsten’s eyes light up as his friend works his way through the group and plops down next to Awsten and Chris, the bassist of their band and the guy who Awsten refers to as his biggest competition in the high school struggle. Awsten was usually annoyed by his constant vying for Jawn’s attention, but didn’t have the resources to successfully kick him out of the band. Truthfully Chris was a good friend, but he wasn’t what Awsten wanted in his band and had spent years trying to find a new bassist.

“Hey Awsten,” Jawn smiled, twisting his threadbare bracelet around his wrist in his well-known soft voice. Everyone knew Jawn’s voice for it’s two intense opposites, as his speaking voice was soft and yet he insisted on doing screamo for the band (he’d be lying if he said he didn’t like it, though). Awsten melted a little on the inside, smiling goofily back at him.

“Hi Jawn,” he drawled, looking around at the scene kid swarm who all ‘aww’-ed much to the annoyance of everyone else in the cafeteria. A good handful of them threw insults at the table which Awsten replied to in the form of moldy fruit that had been sitting on the table for the past few days. A peach flew into the center of the ‘popular’ table with a satisfying splat, followed by several yells and cries of disgust. The mob of scene kids clapped lightly as if watching golf and Awsten stood up and bowed. It was immediately followed by several laughs (including Jawn’s) and Awsten couldn’t help but smile.

The bell rang and the crowd began to dissipate, everyone breaking off from their respective friend groups to head to their classes. Awsten said quick goodbyes to Owbo and Chris, pushing past them with a bit of distaste to head off to his British Lit class. More than halfway into the class he accepts that he doesn’t understand anything about Beowulf, but doesn’t complain in class because of how nervous he is. The class passes fairly quickly, but Awsten’s nerves are growing and he’s tempted to just forget about the promposal.

The next class passes by in a flash and Awsten hasn’t realised it until he finds himself walking toward the science lab. Once in the class, time seems to slow down a bit and he’s able to process A&P a little better than both English and Math. He thinks it has something to do with the cadaver in the video’s organs being removed. It’s gnarly he thinks, watching the strands of organs being pulled out and set aside in metal bowls. He feels a little sick afterwards but getting out of the lab makes the nausea subside.

Thankfully his next class was music, which meant he had one more opportunity to practice before he saw Jawn at lunchtime when he had to actually go through with his plan. He has to flip his hair again out of sheer anticipation. He walks slowly to the fine arts wing again, but everything seems more chaotic than usual. It could be the pre-Prom rush, or suddenly everyone has become interested in joining Mr. Quinn’s class (he decides it must be the first). His face twists however, when he realises there's a crowd surrounding Mr. Quinn's room and he sprints towards it to see what's going on. 

Mr. Quinn is standing on the table yelling at kids who are grabbing at his legs and pants, holding Awsten’s poster and candy bag over his head. It’s a crazy sight but more than anything, Awsten is wondering how anyone found any of the stuff to begin with.

“STOP TRYING TO PULL DOWN MY PANTS!” he yells, kicking away a student's arm. Awsten is still bewildered as hell, but silently thanks Mr. Quinn for actually protecting the candy with his life. He pushes through further, and starts yelling to catch Mr. Quinn’s attention. He climbs on the table and kicks more hands away from Mr. Quinn’s legs and glares at the kids trying to see what he’s holding.

“Stop trying to touch my shit, losers,” he says in the moment, receiving a disappointed look from Mr. Quinn. The only problem he has now is getting to the music classroom from the art room, and hopefully without Jawn seeing him. The photography room is parallel to the art room and at this point he doesn’t know how to do it. He jumps down into the crowd and is immediately bombarded by questions, but he doesn’t answer. Someone curses at him for stepping on their toe and he whispers a quiet ‘Sorry’. His heart is pounding in his ears and he ducks down when he sees Jawn’s mop of black hair weaving through the crowd, and he’s almost certain for a few seconds the pair of checkered Vans belonging to his crush will come walking his way. Luckily, they disappear into the darkness of the photography room giving Awsten ample time to sprint to the music room.

He doesn’t know how to explain the hallway situation to Mrs. Finley, but motions for her to look outside for his reason as to why he’s late. She mutters something and tells Awsten to play whatever he wants today, as there’s no lesson planned. Awsten has enough time to run through his song two times when the bell rings. He has butterflies but rather than give into them, he swallows harshly, flips his hair back and takes his acoustic guitar and poster to the courtyard. The walk down is intense as he has to push past mobs of students stuck in the hallways and blocking the doors. He sets up the poster by leaning it against his backpack, and keeps the candy behind him. Geoff and Otto are supposed to bring Jawn, and will text him when they’re in the main stairwell. A small crowd starts forming around him, he wipes his hands on his jeans. His phone goes off in his pocket and the butterflies return, and now he can't deny how nervous he is. He takes out his acoustic guitar, the one that’s covered in Polaroids of Jawn, Owbo, Chris and himself (looking closely, anyone would see that Jawn was in every single photo covering the guitar).

“What's going on guys, tell me!” he hears Jawn say from across the quad and that's when they lock eyes. Awsten has to look down for a few seconds to gain composure and get rid of the red blush that's gracing his features.

“I think we'd be picture perfect together… Prom?…. Awsten?” Jawn says reading the sign and looking at Awsten expectantly. The sign is cute he thought, spending hours next to his sister as she told him what would be perfect to include for Jawn. In the end, there was a large camera and elongated font that said exactly as Jawn announced. He hadn’t taken art for years at that point and was incredibly proud of how it came out. The nerves he has in that moment are intense but he has to do it because God dammit, this is the only thing he’s wanted to do for Jawn since falling for him. He has to take a deep breath before he starts.

“If you died I'd hope you'd haunt me, because you know I'd miss you bad…” He starts, voice a little shaky but slowly his confidence climbs. He gets up and walks around, still playing the heartfelt song because it’s everything he’s wanted to tell Jawn for the longest time.

The song ends and the accumulated crowd is clapping, but Awsten drowns them out. His eyes are locked with Jawn’s and with the way he looks, Awsten may have just proposed to him. A sweet tear-soaked smile is painted across his features and Awsten melts a little more. He thinks that image will forever be stored in the softest part of his mind because it means so much to him. He smiles back, letting out a breathy laugh because his heart is pounding in his chest and the truth is? He’s never been so happy in his whole life (with the exception of the time he first met Jawn).

“Jawn Rocha,” Awsten says setting his guitar on the ground, and getting on one knee for the added effect. Jawn laughs and blushes, putting his hands in front of his face as his long-time crush gets on one knee for him. His face is burning, but he’s so happy in the moment and knows that it’s not a joke. Nobody could write a song like that and treat it as a joke

“Will you make me the happiest guy ever and go to Prom with me?”

Jawn's smile is massive, and he can’t talk. The butterflies in his stomach threaten to spill but he swallows harshly and giggles to release tension within himself. He nods quickly and falls to his knees and pulls Awsten in, kissing his face for everything. The song, the poster, and for just being the one to do it all. He’s never felt so special to someone other than his family up until then. It’s a sweet moment that neither of them wants to end, but eventually they stand up and lace their hands together, smiling until it hurts. Awsten squeezes Jawn’s hand reassuringly and Jawn leans over to kiss his cheek again.

“Y'all can go now,” Awsten says to the crowd, giving Jawn his bag of candy and grabbing their backpacks and the poster before they walk away, still holding hands.

**Author's Note:**

> please leave comments with any feedback or things you enjoyed in this fic!
> 
> here's my [tumblr](https://outerspacecarryon.tumblr.com)


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